This week Wake Forest students, faculty, and staff will be honoring the victims of sexual assault and rape during the Yellow-Ribbon Week hosted by PREPARE. PREPARE was originally started by male students in response to an alleged gang rape at a fraternity house. Co-Chairs of PREPARE, seniors Evan Leadem and Molly Champagne, devote themselves to educating the campus about sexual violence and rape issues on campus. Tie-a-Yellow-Ribbon Week is one of the biggest highlights for PREPARE and a way you can lend your voice and support this serious issue.
First up, you can educate yourself on the issue by looking at the Rape Awareness Wall of statistics and facts which will be up from 11am-1pm Monday on the patio outside the Pit.
Secondly, if you’re a student leader on campus, you can attending the Campus Leaders Symposium on Tuesday which aims to gather student leaders to discuss how sexual violence is being handled in campus life. This will be a small group discussion, so please contact Evan Leadem if you wish to attend.
On Wednesday, PREPARE is showing the documentary Dream Worlds 3 in Greene Hall Room 162 at 5PM. This new documentary looks at the role pop culture and music videos has on the images of men and women and how the media industry infiltrates a lot of myths about sexuality.
And lastly, you can show your support this Thursday by attending the 19th annual PREPARE “SpeakOut” at 6PM in Wait Chapel where you can listen to anonymous testimonials of Wake Forest students affected by this issue. Collegiettes™, please join the conversation about such a relevant subject matter here on campus and around the world. Unfortunately, sexual violence is an issue that statistics today show affects 1 in 4 women in their college career.
So, pay your tributes this upcoming week, whether it be going to the “SpeakOut” on Thursday, taking a few minutes to read the Rape Wall, or simply choosing that yellow scarf to let people know that you care.